[USFK Forums] S. Korea hoping Jeju talks help break nuclear deadlock [Yonghap]

[C. Y. Lee]

[Uploaded by C. Y. Lee on Wednesday, December 14, 2005]
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S. Korea hoping Jeju talks help break nuclear deadlock

By Byun Duk-kun

JEJU, South Korea, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- A new round of inter-Korean ministerial talks opened on the southern resort island of Jeju on Tuesday amid hopes that they might help break the multilateral diplomatic impasse over the North's nuclear weapons program.

South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young arrived here in the morning while the North Korean delegation, headed by councilor Kwon Ho-ung of the communist country's Cabinet, arrived at around 2:30 p.m. on a direct flight from Pyongyang.

The North Korean delegates were greeted by the South Korean minister upon his arrival at Lotte Hotel, the venue of the four-day inter-Korean talks. Chung tried to break the ice by asking some of the North Korean delegates, whom he called "comrades," whether they had visited the South Korean island before.

"In the South, visiting (the North's) Mount Paekdu is a lifetime wish. I believe visiting the South's Mount Halla is a common wish in the North," the South Korean minister said, while expressing hope for the success of the inter-Korean dialogue.

Kwon returned the gesture, saying the talks would go well as long as the sides discussed matters "frankly and honestly." The North's chief delegate later called for efforts to further improve inter-Korean relations to take the relationship to what he called an "irreversible" stage in terms of close alignment.

"The ongoing phase of reconciliation and unification that was initiated by the June 15 North-South Joint Declaration must move forward without any delays or slackness," Kwon said at a dinner hosted by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan.

While stressing the need to implement the joint statement from the historic inter-Korean summit in 2000, Kwon said the sides must work to prepare great gifts for their nation. The inter-Korean talks, the 17th of their kind, come amid international efforts to lure Pyongyang back to the nuclear disarmament talks.

Song Min-soon, the country's chief negotiator in the North Korean nuclear disarmament talks, said earlier that he would be attending the inter-Korean talks as an "observer," while his subordinates said the deputy foreign minister might play a more active role if necessary.

A spokesman for the Unification Ministry, however, said the diplomat is simply invited to the dinner, and that he may stay for the first plenary session on Wednesday. Ways to further increase inter-Korean exchanges remain one of the major issues at the Cabinet-level talks, according to the ministry officials, but they said Seoul also aims to use the venue to encourage the North's early return to the multinational negotiations on its nuclear development program.

A fifth round of the six-party nuclear disarmament talks that involve the United States, Japan, China, Russia and the two Koreas took a recess in November with an agreement to resume at the earliest date possible. The countries, however, have yet to set a date for their next meeting amid growing tension between North Korea and its main dialogue partner, the U.S.

Washington froze the U.S.-based assets of eight North Korean companies in late October, accusing them of trafficking weapons of mass destruction, an accusation strongly denied by Pyongyang, which claims Washington is only trying to tarnish its image to cover up its own misdeeds and human rights violations in the international community.

The top U.S. diplomat in South Korea, Alexander Vershbow, sparked further protests from North Korea last week when he labeled it a criminal state. The U.S. ambassador has refused to withdraw his description of the North, claiming its engagement in illegal activities, such as drug trafficking, counterfeiting and money laundering, makes it essentially a criminal regime.

In a signed commentary carried on Tuesday, the official newspaper Rodong Sinmun, published by the North's Workers' Party, accused the U.S. of trying to overthrow its communist regime, calling Vershbow's remarks a deliberate provocation. "The U.S. once said it recognizes the DPRK as 'a sovereign state' and 'respects' it. It is clearer that the recent outpourings were nothing but tongue-rolling to deceive public opinion," the commentary said.

DPRK stands for the North's official title, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Seoul hopes to help ease the U.S.-North Korea tension through its bilateral meeting with Pyongyang, while also working to win an agreement from the latter to resume the six-party talks.

"We believe we have various ways to pressure North Korea to come to a new round of inter-Korean military talks," Kim Chun-sig, a spokesman for the inter-Korean talks, said at a news briefing Monday. The countries have been unable to hold discussions between their militaries, despite an agreement to do so at the 15th round of ministerial talks in June.

The head of the Unification Ministry's inter-Korean exchange and cooperation bureau said the government may also use its increased leverage with the North to help fix a date for the six-party talks to continue.

bdk@yna.co.kr(END)